When it comes to choosing a career, many students and young adults often feel a lot of pressure to decide in which direction they must proceed. For some folks, it’s an easy choice, and they are happy with it for the rest of their lives. For some, getting a degree means you are locked into a specific career and can feel rudderless when life goes in a different direction. I would argue for most people, their career is more of a loop with stops, crosswalks, diversions, distractions, and more. The important thing is moving forward and taking advantage of every skill and strength you’ve developed on your journey.
Here are some stories from the lovely folks that I work with on the GetWise team, starting with me!
When I was younger, I got it in my head that I was going to work in animation. I went to school for it, got a degree for it, interned at an animation studio, and eventually got to work on some projects that were big and small. While there were great and satisfying projects, the pay and hours were not great since it was contract work. What I got, though, was experience working on a team with tight deadlines and focused work.
From there I transitioned to medical billing, where the biggest lesson I learned was how to communicate with people who needed help. Then I worked in apprenticeship programs, managing apprentices of all ages for different companies and helping them complete assignments. I currently use that experience to provide knowledge to students about clean energy and energy conservation. I communicate with teachers, schools, and school districts to provide them with additional educational materials they can use in their classrooms. Every job is a learning experience, and whether good or bad they can help propel you forward.
My work journey began when I was 19, working in retail clothing and accessories sales and learning how much I enjoyed connecting with people. From there, I found new ways to grow, from placing business ads for the local newspaper to managing a furniture store, where I learned what it meant to lead a team, support customers, and keep moving forward even when the work was demanding. After that I continued building my leadership skills while working in apartment leasing, then back to retail sales. I also dabbled in recruiting members for a boutique gym. I began my day at 4:30 a.m. and sustained that schedule for a year.
Looking back, those years shaped me in ways I did not fully realize at the time. They taught me patience, adaptability, and the importance of meeting people where they are. Eventually, I transitioned into call center customer service with Franklin Energy. After a year, I moved into scheduling energy home assessment work for our company's energy advisors, where I spent two years learning another side of customer support and operations. Today, I am proud to work in education as a Program Coordinator for Franklin Energy. Every step of my journey has helped prepare me for where I am now, and I carry those lessons with me as I continue to grow, serve, and make an impact.
After a 30-year culinary career and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business/Healthcare Administration, I joined Franklin Energy in June 2018 as an Energy Advisor for the Black Hills Energy program. Back then, my only experience with LEDs was owning a St. Patrick's Day novelty necklace!
It took six months to find my stride, but my team and I built a powerful foundation. Our success earned the client’s trust, a promotion for me, and to our team implementing its 29-program portfolio. As of June 2026, I now lead four incredible Energy Advisors dedicated to serving our community, client, and ratepayers. Just yesterday, we wrapped up a large project (installing 2,775-lamp tubular LED lights), pushing us closer to hitting our energy-saving goals for the seventh straight year! I couldn’t ask for a better crew or company. Making a tangible difference in people's lives is an unexpected bonus I treasure every day.
It all started at a flower shop...that was my first 'official' job as a teenager, beyond babysitting for $3 an hour, of course. When I got older, I studied Corporate Communications and Spanish in college with the intention of a career in international business, marketing, or publishing. Unfortunately, corporations were downsizing when I graduated from college, so I worked in publishing for only a few months. I loved it, except the pay was low and there were no benefits! I didn't want to move to a large city (basically a requirement to stay in publishing) so I decided to give teaching a try.
I moved from South Carolina to North Carolina and my teaching career began. Over 21 years I taught in 10 different schools and four states! I loved teaching but I was ready for a change and to give the business world another try. To diversify my professional experience, after teaching during the day, I spent my evenings managing a catering business and then working as a manager at a performing arts center. For a year, I applied for every job you can imagine, around 40 applications. All my efforts paid off once I accepted my current position! Despite not having a science background, my teaching experience and degrees have collectively supported my ability to do this job. The icing on the top of this professional cake is that I still have opportunities to engage with students in the classroom. I am truly fortunate to work with such an amazing team at Franklin; all the hard work paid off. As a life-long learner, I'm working on a certificate for Digital Marketing Communications with a future certificate planned in Learning and Design. And who knows, I might just become a florist yet.
I want to thank everyone for giving me a piece of their stories. I hope that hearing some of these stories can help folks who might be looking for that next step in their own journey. Each person took a different path, but their experiences all show the same thing: A career does not have to be a straight line. Every role can help you build skills, discover new interests, and find opportunities you may not have expected. The kits of energy-saving products we provide to high school students add to that idea by introducing careers in electric vehicles, weatherization, energy auditing, solar technology, and industrial ecology. Any one of these fields could be a student’s first step, or just another useful stop on the way to wherever their own career takes them.